


A Long Way Home

by Naemi



Category: The Faculty (1998)
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Prompt Fic, Romance, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2012-12-03
Packaged: 2017-11-27 17:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/664512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naemi/pseuds/Naemi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a tragedy happens, it is Casey's undying love that keeps Zeke going.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Long Way Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BabyDracky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyDracky/gifts).



 

_And there ain't no way_  
 _I'm letting you go now._  
 _And there ain't no way._  
 _And there ain't no how._

_[Shania Twain: Forever And For Always]_  
~~~

It was hard enough to just sit there and allow his eyes to transmit the information of sight to his mind where it was processed too slowly, struggling with his refusal to accept the truth.

Casey, lying in this bed, looking so small and fragile with all the tubes and needles and the machines that gave their steady, soulless beeps and droning, was beyond anything Zeke could easily regard as real. He tried, though, knowing he had to if he did not want his mind to snap halfway down this road.

For a little while he succeeded in staying strong, bolstered up by inexhaustible willpower and his obstinacy. But when the Connors started future talk, off the record, excluding him, the wish to run away and never return became so overwhelming that it took his breath, literally.

“Why don't you go home, Zeke?” Mister Connor suggested. “You need a rest, boy.”

 _I can't, Sir,_ he meant to reply, but a look into the man's teary eyes helped him understand. Zeke clenched his jaw to keep any sound from escaping. He stood up and left the room silently without looking back. His heart felt so heavy that the weight threatened to make him stumble and fall.

Zeke took a few steps, past the nurses' station and down the corridor, without even noticing the movement of his feet. He stopped by the window. The world outside stared at him, cold and empty, the sky a bottomless sea of darkness. Zeke rested his forehead against the glass, blinded by the crushing despair that surrounded him.

“Hey. Are you all right?”

Zeke's heart skipped a few beats, and he spun around, eyes widening in surprise. His mind fumbled in an attempt to combine the impossible with the obvious, quickly coming to the one possible conclusion.

“I'm dreaming.”

“You are,” Casey confirmed, a smile painting his lips. “But does it matter?”

Zeke frowned. “I don't think so,” he replied after a moment of consideration, and his lips curled into a smile as well, weak and unsteady.

Casey was standing beside him. There was a flicker of regret in his eyes as they wandered over Zeke's face just before fixing on something outside. “I thought it would be nice if we could just be together for a while,” he said. “Just you and I. Without any of these . . . boundaries.” He made a vague gesture, a wave of the hand gone so quickly that a single flutter of lashes would have sufficed to miss it.

Zeke nodded, unsure of what to say. He reached for Casey's hand and was relieved when his skin felt perfectly normal under his touch, warm and pulsing with life and not, as he had feared, ghostly at all. Dream or not, Zeke's heart went light just from standing side by side and holding hands, pretending it was okay.

“I'd like to take a walk,” Casey eventually said into the comfortable silence, and again, Zeke simply nodded. They walked down the corridor, holding hands and adopting a slow, yet steady pace. Their feet made little squeaking sounds on the linoleum, but apart from that the whole building seemed like it had fallen into a deep slumber.

They passed by countless doors, all closed, protecting them from the sadness that roamed these rooms. The corridors seemed to be endless, illuminated only by a few unsteady lights, but Zeke did not mind the twilight, even though he found it a little eerie to step into deep shadows every time they rounded a corner.

Eventually, just when Zeke thought they would be captured in an everlasting walk, a staircase opened up in front of them, leading down, and down only.

“Shall we?” Casey asked, squeezing his hand.

“Where does it lead?”

“Outside. These walls have felt like a prison for too long.”

Zeke swallowed hard. “Okay,” he agreed, and added a whispered, “I know.”

They descended the stairs carefully, for there was no other source of light than the lamp at the top step, and the further they proceeded, the colder the darkness became, a living creature entangling Zeke's chest until his breath came out in little pants. Lifting his feet felt more and more like lifting heavy weights, and Zeke started to just shuffle, clutching onto Casey's hand.

“I can't go any further,” he moaned eventually. Completely out of breath, he stopped on the spot, leaning hard against Casey, who draped his arms around him to provide support. Every muscle and nerve in Zeke's body felt raw, overstrung, flooded with a tiredness he had never known before.

“Only a few more steps. We're almost there.”

“I can't.”

“Please, baby.” Casey wiped his forehead tenderly, brushing away a strand of hair. “Please, I need you to go all the way down with me.” He placed a soft kiss onto Zeke's temple, whispering against his skin, “All will be well. Trust me.”

Zeke did not know how he found the strength to carry on, but with Casey holding him, he managed to take one step after another until finally there were no steps left and they were facing a solid door. Golden light crept over the threshold, pouring in through the tiny gap.

Casey pushed the door open with one hand, and it gave way surprisingly easy, revealing a small pathway that led into a beautiful park.

They stumbled out of the darkness, and it astounded Zeke to realize that all the flowers were in full bloom, yet dusted with snow. Thick flakes kept drifting down, dancing happily in the light of five gas lamps, each of them lonely little islands of golden warmth yards apart.

“I think I know this place,” Zeke said slowly. He tilted his head up, and the snowflakes gently caressed his face before melting on his skin, slowly washing away his weakness. “This is . . . it's . . . where are we, Casey?”

“Don't you remember?”

Zeke circled around. His eyes narrowed and darted here and there, searching for any hint as to why the surroundings seemed so painfully familiar.

“See? The pavilion.” Casey pointed towards the far end of the pathway. “You must remember.” When Zeke shook his head, Casey sighed heavily. “Please, you _must_.”

“I'm trying—“ Zeke started, and all of a sudden he could spot the building in the distance, and with it came memory as forceful as a slap in the face. He staggered backwards, swayed, and sank down to his knees. He coughed, the crisp air feeling like thick smoke in his lungs.

Casey waited until the attack subsided, then he squatted down behind Zeke, placing his hands on his shoulders and kissing the back of his head. “This is it,” he whispered into his ear. Casey held him in his arms for a moment, but all too soon, he stood up again. He walked past Zeke and further on, dipping in and out of the pools of light as he wandered down the pathway.

Zeke watched him, finding it impossible to stand up and follow him, no matter how much he wanted to.

Casey reached the pavilion, and there he stopped, a tiny figure in the distance, facing away from Zeke. “I come here every day. I lay down flowers and I remember.” His voice seemed to sound from everywhere, hollow and unreal. “It was here where you first kissed me. It was here where you first made love to me.”

“Everything good was here,” Zeke agreed. Emptiness choked him.

“And will be.” Casey turned around, and even from afar, Zeke could see a fire burning in his eyes. “You will be here with me. We will sit down on these steps and watch the stars, trying to count them. The night will be beautiful and warm, and I'll be nestled against your chest, listening to your heartbeat. You will kiss me. And then, you will ask me. I will not reply, but the answer is in my eyes. You will kiss me again, or maybe I will kiss you, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that we will be happy together forever."

“But how?”

“Don't you know?”

Zeke shook his head. Tears rolled over his cheeks.

“Close your eyes,” Casey whispered, and he complied. “What will you say?”

“That I love you.”

“More.”

“That I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“More.”

“That I will never leave you.”

“This. You will never leave me, and it is a promise. Will you keep it?”

“Yes,” Zeke replied firmly.

“And I will never leave you. But therefore, I need you to come and stand by my side now.”

Zeke opened his eyes, seeing Casey holding out a hand, waiting. He tried to stand up, but he was petrified. Pain crept in on the edge of his mind as he tried again, barely able to move even a finger.

“I can't. I don't know how.”

“Yes, you can. Come to me. You can.”

“I don't know how,” Zeke repeated, crying out with anguish, and the hopelessness closed over him like a mighty wave, crushing him, shattering him against the cliffs.

“You can. I love you, and I need you here with me. You can do it. Do it now.”

Zeke's whole body shook and trembled, fought hard against functioning, but he fixed his eyes on Casey, and with the last spark of strength he owned, he succeeded in standing, an achingly slow movement.

~ ~ ~

Zeke fluttered his eyes open, surprised at how much effort such a tiny movement took him.

“Hey,” he heard someone close beside him whisper. Zeke tried to turn his head, but found it close to impossible. His whole body felt sore, every muscle torn.

“Don't move,” the voice said, “it's okay,” and it was only then that Zeke recognized it as Casey's.

“I came to you,” he croaked. “I—“

“It's okay,” Casey said again, this time strangely choked. “I know.”

Zeke felt hot tears fall down on his skin, realizing that it was Casey who shed them. _Something_ seemed off about all this, but he could not care now, for all that mattered was to find enough strength to squeeze Casey's hand, if ever so lightly.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Casey is Zeke's Ghost of the Future.
> 
> Umm, I might have been carried away . . . But it's all a matter of opinion, I guess ;o)
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful Moit, who also made sure that all characters were returned unharmed.
> 
> _Feedback is love._


End file.
